Obstetrics

May 22nd, 2019A Cape Town gynaecologist has made giving birth a little safer by turning a cheap surgical glove into a device that stops excessive post-birth bleeding, reports The Times. The invention, which has just been commercialised as the Ellavi uterine...

May 15th, 2019Thousands of women every year could be spared painful and occasionally life-threatening infections if doctors administered preventive antibiotics after every assisted childbirth, The Guardian reports a major trial has found. A single dose of...

April 24th, 2019Offering universal late pregnancy ultrasounds at 36 weeks’ gestation eliminates undiagnosed breech presentation of babies, lowers the rate of emergency caesarean sections, and improves the health of mothers and babies. These are some of the...

April 17th, 2019Pregnant women can lower the risk of stillbirth by sleeping on their side and NOT on their back, according to an international meta-analysis. The finding has been taken up as part of official National Health Service (NHS) guidance.
Dr...

March 20th, 2019The death rate among women undergoing a caesarean to deliver a baby is about 50 times higher in Africa than in most wealthy nations, Health24 reports that researchers have found. One in 200 women died during or soon after a C-section in a sampling...

March 13th, 2019Thanks to medical and technological advancements, the age at which a woman can give birth has gradually increased and "50 is the new 40 when it comes to childbirth", reports a large Israeli study presented at the Society for Maternal and Fetal...

Researchers have determined that healthy premature babies can have as much success breastfeeding as full-term babies. The study, conducted by researchers at University of British Columbia Okanagan's School of Nursing and the University of Hong Kong,...

March 13th, 2019Women who give birth in non-hospital settings are three times more likely to encounter complications and perinatal mortality compared with hospital births, according to a study presented by researchers from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU)...

As if expecting mothers didn't have enough to worry about, a study has now found that the quantity of delivery complications in hospitals are substantially higher during nights, weekends and holidays, and in teaching hospitals.
Each year, nearly...Obstetrics

Infants exposed to antenatal corticosteroid therapy (ACT) to accelerate lung maturation have a clinically significant reduction in birth size, according to a study of 278,508 birth by Alina Rodriguez of the University of Lincoln and Imperial College...

November 21st, 2018A Cochrane Review has found that increasing the intake of omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFA) during pregnancy reduces the risk of premature births.
Premature birth is the leading cause of death for children under 5 years old...

Mothers should wait at least a year between giving birth and getting pregnancy again to reduce health risks to mother and baby, a large study says. But researchers say they need not wait as long as the 18 months recommended in the current World...

October 17th, 2018Globally, the number of babies born through caesarean section (C-section) almost doubled between 2000 and 2015 – from 12% to 21% of all births – according to a series of three papers launched at the International Federation of Gynecology and...

With the legalisation of marijuana in several US states, increased use for both medicinal and recreational purposes has been documented in pregnant and breastfeeding women. Although national organisations like the American Academy of Paediatrics...Obstetrics

Healthy first-time mothers whose labour was induced in the 39th week of pregnancy were less likely to deliver by Caesarean section, compared to those who waited for labour to begin naturally, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of...

Quick Links

Thank you for subscribing to MedicalBrief

MedicalBrief is Africa’s premier medical news and research weekly newsletter. MedicalBrief is published every Thursday and delivered free of charge by email to over 33 000 health professionals.

Please consider completing the form below. The information you supply is optional and will only be used to compile a demographic profile of our subscribers. Your personal details will never be shared with a third party.